Sad news to report of the recent passing of former Toe To Toe drummer Matt "Spider" Lodge on the weekend.
Matt played on Toe To Toe's iconic debut LP "Threats and Facts" and the brilliant follow up EP, "No Gods" along with the tracks that featured on the Mindsnare split CD and the Neotony Compilation.
Matt's break neck approach to drums really uplifted the tempo of Toe To Toe and helped further elevate the popularity of the band. Matt also played for Brisbane ska punks, Blowhard.
At the time of his passing, Matt was residing in West Australia, where he was still actively drumming. The photo at the top of the post was only taken days ago by Mick Kyneur.
Matt is the second former member of Toe To Toe to have passed away in recent years, with original guitarist and founding member Billy Hughes suffering a fatal motorbike accident in June 2011.
Matt's Toe To Toe band mates have been reliving some memories...
"I've received some sad news, a long time friend and one time drummer of Toe To Toe, Matt ' Spider' Lodge has passed away. Anyone that knew Matt also knew he had his demons, but I prefer to remember him as the kid with a heart of gold that made us all laugh. Rest in Peace My Brother. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family" - Scott Mac
"When he was on, drummed like Chuck Biscuits or better, a lot of fun back then, always a laugh." - Justin Robertson
"I remember the night at Northies in Cronulla where I first met Matt and he convinced me to come and try out drumming for TTT. First rehearsal convinced us all he was the one." - Peter Davie
"I remember when Yawp came out from Holland we drove from Sydney to Canberra with Matt cracking us up the whole way with impressions. Irrepressible and hilarious." - Justin Robertson
"Matt once dislocated his shoulder skating, after that we were forever "popping" it back in, in the middle of a set. So funny." - Justin Robertson
If you watch the footage below of Toe To Toe playing above Perisher's halfpipe at the Sundeck Hotel in 1995, you'll notice Matt has a sling around his neck, for his shoulder as mentioned above by Justin.
You'll also notice how effortlessly flat out he played too. The show was shut down due to noise complaints.
You'll see ski patrol complain then shut it down eventually. "This is a family resort" the patroller says...
Later that night Toe To Toe tore the Aspen Hotel a new one at a Crank Magazine / SMP party.
This video was also shot in 1995 at the Phonecian Hotel in Sydney in support of NOFX.
This Toe To Toe released video Insane On The Outside also features a lot of footage of Matt in action.